Current News

University of Massachusetts Amherst professor and internationally known adoption expert Hal Grotevant has been chosen to receive the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award for 2017, which recognizes “educators who have inspired their former students to create an organization which has demonstrably conferred a benefit on the community at large.”

2017-18 Family Research Scholar and Associate Professor of Community Health Education Aline Gubrium has been elected to serve as Chair-Elect of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). She begins serving immediately as the Chair Elect, for a one-year term and will take over the position of Chair beginning in December 2018.

Agnès Lacreuse, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences and a 2013-14 CRF Family Research Scholar, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health R21 grant to study the interactions between the co-occurring menopausal symptoms of sleep disturbance, hot flashes and cognitive impairment within an animal model.

Maureen Perry-Jenkins, CRF Faculty Director and UMass Amherst and Nancy Byatt, DO, MS, MBA, Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry and Obstetrics and Gynecology, UMass Medical School have been awarded the UMass Life Science Moment Fund Award. Perry-Jenkins and Byatt will partner with Square One and the Children’s Trust, who lead parent education programs in the state for low-income parents.

Krista Harper (2008-09 Family Research Scholar) anthropology and School of Public Policy, and Jacqueline Urla, anthropology, with graduate students Alina Ryabovolova, communication, Dana Conzo and Brittni Howard, both anthropology, took part in an international graduate student workshop on “Grassroots: Economies, Politics, and Culture” May 28-30 at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) Centre Norbert Élias in Marseille, France.

The Center for Research on Families (CRF) is pleased to announce the recipients of this year's Student Research Grants and Awards. CRF is committed to supporting students engaged in family research—our student researchers are addressing family challenges such as childhood obesity, family violence, school readiness and immigration policies. CRF received an unprecedented number of applications for this year's competition. Ten talented students received awards in six categories for a total of over $26,000 awarded.

The Center for Research on Families (CRF) and the Healthy Development Initiative (HDI) are pleased to announce the recipients of two $15,000 pilot grants as part of a new Community Partnership Research Grant Initiative. The funded projects will address pressing concerns identified by Springfield families, agencies and community leaders with the goal of increasing the health and wellbeing of Springfield residents.

The Center for Research on Families’ (CRF) seventh-annual Family Research Forum and Awards Dinner, held on March 7th, was a wonderful celebration of a year of exciting new research and community initiatives. The program showcased the research of CRF scholars on topics such as immigration, the impact of environmental chemicals on maternal health, the neurobiology of epilepsy, and the importance of naps for young children.